Pump and method of pumping



May 21, 1968 w. L. KING ET AL 3,384,023

PUMP AND METHOD OF PUMPING Filed Sept. 19, 1966 WlLLlAM L. KING JOHN F. KING INVENTORS BUCKHOR/V, BLORE, KLAROU/ST 8 SPAR/(MAN ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,384,023 PUMP AND METHGD 0F PUMPING William L. King and John F. King, Eugene, Oreg., as-

siguors to Loyal W. James and Leonard James, both of Eugene, Greg.

Filed Sept. 19, 1966, Ser. No. %,225 11 (list. .5. (Cl. 193-101) ABSTRAC'I' @F THE DISCLOSURE This application discloses a pump which utilizes a dense liquid such as mercury as a pumping medium to pump a lighter fluid, such as water to a pump outlet in place of the usual pump impellers. The pump includes a closed rorating casing defining a pump chamber confining a quantity of mercury which forms a rotating mercury annulus at the periphery of the chamber upon rotation of the casing. A stationary intake passage extends into the chamber and has an inlet opening into the periphery of the chamber. A stationary aspirator within the chamber has a suction tube connected to the inlet and a venturi tube immersed in the mercury annulus. As the casing rotates, a portion of the rotating mercury annulus passes through the venturi tube to draw water or other fluid to be pumped through the intake and suction tube of the aspirator and into the venturi tube where it is intermixed with the mercury before being discharged into the annulus. Once discharged into the mercury annulus, the dense mercury expels the less dense pumped fiuid toward the center of the chamber to build up a pressure therein. The pressurized fluid is then discharged from the chamber through a stationary axial discharge passage.

The present invention relates to the pumping of fluids, and more particularly to a pump utilizing liquid mercury or other fluid material having a greater density than the fluid to be pumped as a fiuid-impelling medium in place of conventional rotatable mechanical impellers.

One of the major advantages of the pump of the present invention over pumps having conventional rotatable impellers is that the number of moving parts in the present pump is reduced to a minimum and thereby the cost of both initial manufacture and maintenance of the present pump is considerably lower than comparable pumps having rotatable impellers. The pump of the present invention also has a longer life than comparable pumps of more conventional construction.

Accordingly, a primary object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved pump utilizing a dense fluid such as liquid mercury as the impclling medium.

Another primary object is to provide a pump as aforesaid having a minimum number of moving parts, in this instance a single rotatable casing.

Another important object is to provide a new and improved method of pumping fluids, including both liquids and gases.

Another object is to provide a pump as aforesaid which is self-priming.

Still another object is to provide a pump as aforesaid which effectively reduces the problem of providing an adequate fluid seal between the rotatable and stationary elements of the pump.

A further object is to provide a pump capable of pumping large volumes of almost any fluid material without the use of mechanical rotating impeller vanes.

Another object is to provide a unique means for mount ing a pump with a rotable casing on a motor so as to eliminate the need for any bearings in the pump itself.

Still other objects are to provide a pump of a simpli- 3,384,023 Patented May 21, 1968 fled construction which is inexpensive to manufacture and maintain and long-lasting.

The above and other objects and advantages of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is an end elevational view of a pump in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view on a greatly enlarged scale taken along the line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view on a scale slightly reduced from that of FIG. 2 taken along the line 3-3 of BIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is a sectional view on a greatly enlarged scale through one of the aspirator nozzles taken along the line 44 of FIG. 3.

With reference to the drawings, the illustrated pump includes a stationary cylindrical outer casing having a vertical end plate 12 with a central opening 14 through which a horizontally disposed portion 15 of an intake pipe 16 extends. The opposite end of the outer casing is provided with a large flanged opening 18 which is rigidly fastened to an annular flanged end 19 of a horizontally extending housing 20 of a motor 21 for driving the pump. Thus the motor housing supports the entire weight of the outer pump casing.

The flanged end 19 of the motor housing carries a bearing member 22 which rotatably supports an outer end portion of a motor drive shaft 23. The outer end of the shaft is keyed to a hub portion 24 of a generally cylindrical inner casing 26 for rotating such inner casing within outer casing 10. Inner casing 26 defines a main pump chamber 28 and an axial opening 30 through an end wall 31 thereof through which intake pipe 16 extends into the casing. The intake pipe includes a radially extending hollow disc-shaped portion 32 within the pump chamber at the inner end of horizontal intake passage 15. The disc-shaped intake portion extends radially within the chamber to a position adjacent the outer periphery thereof. The interior of disc 32 is in communication with the interior of the pump chamber through a series of circumferentially spaced-apart ports 34 provided in the inwardly directed face of the disc adjacent the outer periphery thereof.

A stationary discharge pipe 36 extends from a position centrally within the pump chamber outwardly thereof through the central openings in the inner and outer pump casings and through the interior of intake pipe 16. The discharge pipe is actually supported by the intake pipe where the discharge pipe extends through the walls of the latter. The innermost end of the discharge pipe projects inwardly of the intake disc 32 and includes a series of intake ports 38 at a central portion of the chamber. A disc-shaped pressure plate 40 is carried by the inner end of the discharge pipe and is spaced from hollow intake disc 32. The pressure plate serves both as a shield to reduce internal pressures on the walls of the inner casing itself and as a device to reduce the effective volume within the casing so as to cause a rapid build-up of effective pressure within the chamber tending to push fluid to be pumped out through the discharge pipe, as will become more apparent hereinafter.

As previously mentioned, the rotatable inner casing is both driven and supported by motor drive shaft 23, which in turn is supported adjacent its outer end in motor bearing 22. Thus, in the illustrated construction the motor housing supports the stationary elements of the pump, and the motor shaft supports and drives the rotatable elements of the pump, thereby eliminating the need for any bearings in the pump itself.

A fluid seal 44 is provided within axial opening 30 etween the rotatable casing and intake pipe 16 where it extends through the casing so as to prevent the escape of fluids under pressure at this point. However, hollow intake disc 32 also serves as a partition which withstands most of the internal fluid pressures built up within the pump chamber and isolates the axial opening of the inner casing from the effect of such pressures so that the loss of fluid at axial opening is in reality no problem. In most applications, at least Where the pump is mounted for rotation of the inner casing about a horizontal axis, seal 44 could be eliminated in its entirety without loss of fluid at such axial opening.

A series of aspirator devices are fixedly mounted on the inner face of intake disc 32 adjacent the outer edge thereof and the outer periphery of the chamber. As shown best in FIG. 3, there are four such aspirator devices in the illustrated construction, each including a velocity passage means in the form of a tube 52 positioned within the main pump chamber and a suction passage means in the form of a tube 54 intersecting velocity tube 52 at right angles thereto. Each suction tube 54 serves to mount its associated velocity tube on the intake disc at one of the intake ports 34 so that the suction passage defined by tube 54 connects the interior of the intake disc with the velocity passage defined by tube 52.

Now referring to FIG. 4, velocity tube 52 is tapered at its forward end 53 and has an intake opening 55 tapering rearwardly to a venturi restriction at 56 which in turn leads into a nozzle portion 58 for discharging air rearwardly into an enlarged main velocity passage portion 60 having a discharge end 62. The suction passage provided by suction tube 54 leads into the velocity passage at an enlarged cavity 64 forwardly of the discharge end of nozzle 58. Thus, as is well known in fluid mechanics, fluid passing axially through the velocity tube from the intake end toward the discharge end will produce a zone of low pressure within cavity 64 due to volume changes and resultant velocity changes within the velocity tube whereby fluid within the suction passage and connected intake passage will be drawn through the suction tube and into the velocity tube to be discharged from the end 62 thereof into the main pump chamber. Of course, any other velocity passage means could be employed operating on an aspirator or jet pump principle in place of the illustrated nozzle-venturi combination tube 52, such as, for example, a simple venturi tube with a suction tube connected to the venturi tube at the throat of the venturi restriction or a velocity tube incorporating an internal pitot tube connected to the suction tube.

The interior of the rotatable casing is partially filled with a dense impelling fluid such as mercury or any other fluid material having considerably greater density than the fluid to be pumped. The chamber should be only partially filled with the impelling fluid so that as the casing is rotated the impelling fluid, due to centrifugal force, will occupy a position at the outer periphery of the chamber, leaving the central portion of the chamber free of such fluid. However, there should be enough impelling fluid Within the chamber so that the velocity tubes are all immersed in such fluid when the inner casing is rotated. For example, it will be noted in FIG. 2 that the radially innermost level d6 of mercury is at a position just inwardly of the velocity tubes 52 so that as the casing is rotated the velocity tubes will be immersed but the discharge pipe 36 and especially the intake ports 38 thereof will not be immersed. It is also important, as shown in FIG. 3, that all four of the velocity tubes have their intake ends pointing in the same circumferential direction so that as the casing is rotated the mercury will pass through all four of the tubes in the same relative direction.

Operation In operation, and assuming mercury is the impelling fluid and water the fluid to be pumped, the vertically extending portion of the intake pipe 16 is connected to the source of water (not shown), and discharge pipe 36 is connected to a pipe extending to the desired destination.

4 Then inner casing 26 is rotated in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 3. The effect of this rotation is to throw the mercury within the casing against the peripheral walls thereof so that all four of the velocity tubes are immersed in the mercury and the intake ports 38 of the discharge pipe are free of mercury. Rotation of the casing causes the mercury within the casing to rotate in the same direction as the casing. The stream of mercury thus flows through the velocity tubes at velocities determined by the speed of rotation of the casing to draw first air and then water from the intake passages through the suction passages and into the velocity passages, from which such fluids are discharged into the rotating stream of mercury within the main chamber. The air which is initially drawn from the intake passage into the mercury within the chamber, being considerably lighter than the mercury, will be released, or impelled, radially inwardly from the mercury toward the center of the rotating casing. This causes a build-up of air pressure within the center of the chamber which causes air discharged by the mercury to flow into the discharge tube through ports 38 thereby to be discharged from the casing.

Similarly, the water which eventually is drawn into the mercury within the chamber, also being considerably less dense than the mercury, is expelled from the mercury toward the center of the chamber. The result is a build-up of water pressure within the central part of the casing whereby the water is forced out of the chamber through discharge pipe 35 to its destination. In the foregoing manner, the pumping action of the unit is achieved. After all of the air has been discharged from the intake passages, :water will flow continuously from the discharge pipe so long as the inner casing continues to rotate.

It is important to note that pressure plate 40, the inner face of intake disc 32 and the mercury sealing the space between such members at the outer ends thereof define a narrow inner space within the chamber within which substantially the entire pressure build-up within the casing occurs. Thus, such three elements effectively seal oil the outer walls and axial opening of the inner easing from the internal pressures built up within such space while the pump is operating so that the walls need not be of particularly great thickness and so that the fluid seal at the axial opening can be eliminated if desired. The foregoing arrangement of plates and mercury seal also effects a rapid build-up of pumping pressure within the chamber because of the reduction of effective volume within the chamber to provide a quick priming action. However, pressure plate 40 can be eliminated if desired. Also, intake disc 32 could be replaced by a series of radial pipes, extending from horizontal intake pipe 15, in which case fluid seal 44 would be required to prevent the loss of fluid at opening 39.

Having illustrated a preferred embodiment of the invention, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the invention permits of modification in arrangement and detail. We claim as our invention all such modifications as come within the true spirit and scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

'1. A pump comprising:

a casing rotatable about its central axis and defining a pump chamber,

inlet means for a first fluid to be pumped opening into said chamber at an outer peripheral portion of said chamber,

outlet means for said first fluid at a central portion of said chamber,

stationary aspirator means within said chamber including a suction tube connected to said inlet means and a venturi tube at a peripheral portion of said chamher,

a second high density fluid continuously carried within said casing and forming a fluid annulus rotating at the periphery of said chamber upon rotation of said casing,

said second fluid annulus immersing said venturi tube and blocking direct communication of said inlet means with said outlet means but only partially filling said chamber so as not to immerse said outlet means,

said venturi tube having an intake end opening facing in a direction opposite the direction of rotation pf said casing and an outlet end discharging into said annulus so that upon rotation of said casing a portion of said second fluid annulus passes through said venturi tube, said fluid expels said first fluid into the central portion of said chamber.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said impelling fluid means comprises liquid mercury.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said casing is cylindrical and rotatable about a central axis and includes an axial opening therethrough,

said intake passage means and said discharge passage means extending into said chamber through said axial opening and being stationarily mounted relative to said casing.

4. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said aspirator means is stationarily mounted Within said chamber.

'5. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein there are a plurality of aspirator means spaced apart circumferentially within said chamber adjacent the outer periphery of said chamber.

6. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said intake passage means includes an axially extending intake passage portion extending into said chamber through an axial opening in said casing and a radially extending intake passage portion extending radially toward the outer periphery of said chamber from an inner end of said axially extending intake portion within said chamber.

7. Apparatus according to claim 6 wherein said discharge passage means extends axially outwardly of said chamber through said axial opening and within the axially extending portion of said intake passage means and includes an intake port positioned centrally within said chamber.

8. A pump comprising:

a generally cylindrical casing mounted for rotation about a central axis thereof,

drive means for rotating said casing,

said casing defining a main pump chamber and an axial opening extending into said chamber,

stationary intake passage means extending into said chamber through said axial opening and including a radially extending intake passage portion within said chamber having discharge ports adjacent the radially outer periphery of said chamber,

stationary discharge passage means extending from said chamber through said axial opening and including a fluid intake within a central portion of said chamber,

aspirator means within said chamber including a plurality of velocity tubes spaced apart circumferentially within said chamber and a suction tube connecting each velocity tube to said radially extending intake passage portion at a discharge opening thereof,

and an impeller fluid partially filling said chamber so that upon rotation of said casing said impeller fluid rotates with said casing at a radially outer portion of said chamber,

said velocity tubes being positioned within said chamber so that upon rotation of said casing said impeller fluid is caused to flow axially through said velocity tubes in a direction so as to draw fluid to be pumped from said intake passage means into said impeller fluid,

said impeller fluid having a greater density than the fluid to be pumped so that upon the mixing of said fluids within said chamber while said casing is rotating, the fluid to be pumped will be impelled upwardly toward the center of said chamber and into said discharge passage means.

9; Apparatus according to claim 8 wherein partition means are provided Within said chamber in cooperation with said impelling fluid to isolate the axial opening of said casing from the pressure build-up within said chamber during the rotation of said casing.

10. Apparatus according toclaim 8 wherein said radially extending intake passage portion comprises a hollow disc-shaped member.

11. Apparatus according to claim 10 wherein the radial extent of said member within said chamber is such that the outer pcrihpery of said member is immersed in said impelling fluid upon rotation of said casing.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,110,696 9/1914 Kittredge 230 -108 2,467,990 4/1949 Powledge 10310l 2,673,075 3/1954 Borck lO3-101 2,690,130 9/ 1954 Boeckeler 10 3-1 l3 3,307,485 3/1967 Logue 103-101 FOREIGN PATENTS 230,159 11/1963 Austria. 1,005,082. 3/ 1957 Germany.

671,703 5/1952. Great Britain.

HENRY F. RADUAZO, Primary Exa/iziner.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3,384,023 May 21, 1968 William L. King et a1.

It is certified that error appears in the above identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column 6, lines 22 and 23, "upwardly" should read inwardly line 35, "perihpery" should read periphery Signed and sealed this 30th day of September 1969.

(SEAL) Attest:

Edward M. Fletcher, Jr.

Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents WILLIAM E. SCHUYLER, JR. 

